Afraid of being confident

The beach adventure (10)

10.The beach adventure..

I can't decide what I'm going to pack. I tried to get my ass out of this situation, but Max confirmed that he's not taking a 'no' as an answer. That brought me here, standing in front of my wardrobe a empty suitcase laying on my bed, me sitting next to it. I don't want to impress him with something..I couldn't even do that, but I surely want to look approachable when someone like Max wants to spend his leisure time with me.

My door opens and in steps Clare, Brenda behind her. Both carrying as much shopping bags as they could, before they push me away and empty its contents on my bed.

"Where did you two get all these clothes?", I ask confused. I can't afford those clothes and will not borrow it from anyone though..

"You do know that I save all that stuff at the office..you never got them...all yours now", she chuckles and I only see Clares confused face.

"Why does Brenda save those clothes without you knowing it?", Clare asks and my face turns red. I need to find a good lie immediately.

"Umm..I ..you know..", I stumble

"I'm working at a outlet store and look around everytime no one is around. When I find something that could fit this beautiful lady here, I take it with me. No one ever cared, you know. There are plenty of clothes, but Les never got them..That's why I save them at my office"

"Oh, how nice of you, Brenda!", Clare exclaims

She couldn't be that dumb, can she? I mean even if that is the most possible excuse..It's obvious that these clothes are worth thousand of bucks and not even a best friend would kind of steal that like she contrived..

Clare claps in her hands and begins to sort out which clothes could be the best and which I could take with me. Brenda tickles my side as I wink at her and mouth a 'thank you'. She just shrugs.

"You even got her underwear?", Clare suddenly asks and holds some lingerie up.

"Sure do. This girl needed some new", Brenda says casually.

I'm standing behind them and observe this quite amusing scene of my two friends packing my suitcase for me. Both girls give each other high fives as they close my suitcase and hand me a dress. I quickly change and am not arguing. They are stubborn..wouldn't change their minds.

"Are you sure you want to spend your weekend with that man?", Clare asks me out of a sudden as she curls my hair, while Brenda does my make up, after I changed into a black blouse and a skinny jeans in grey with matching stilettos.

"I can't call him off now. Maybe it about time for me to get out of here, you know. I call you when I want to come home or need help."

And now I'm sitting in his car in this now slightly uncomfortable dress on our way to the beach house which will take a long ride..

I can't blame myself, but I nearly know something about him and want to use this trip to do so.

"So, um..Max, can I ask you something?", I ask shy

"Sure, go ahead." He looks at me and smiles again.

"Well, I thought you could tell me something about you..I don't really know anything about you you know."

He chuckles. What's so funny here?! Ugh.. I stare down at my fingers and don't expect any answer as he begins. And, man, he tells me a lot.

"Well I grew up in Alabama. My dad started some oil business that I own nowadays. It was kind of hard for me when he died. My mom is the only one I have left now. She's living down there. I should probably go see her more often..." He sighs and makes a face like he remembers some good old times. "Well I'm an only child and I'm almost 29"

"What was your school time like?"

"Hmm.. I was the shy kind of guy, which you wouldn't believe now. I grew up a lot after my father died. Had to because I had to take care of the business, you know?" I nod. "I wasn't good nor bad ..just a normal boy, doing all that crap until I couldn't any longer..."

What surprises me is that he didin't ask me to tell him about myself. Maybe he's not interested but he could have asked it out of politeness.

Anyway, we drive for a few more hours until both of us crack into smiling as we finally see the ocean in front of us. Away in the horizon. The area around us looks really beautiful. Its mixture of rocks and green grassy fields and stones, changing with forests and moss amazes me.

"Can you see that little house down at the shore?", he asks me and I follow his signing finger to a beautiful cottage right next to the beach. It looks like a private beach, which you can only reach by walking down that hill on which the cottage is build.

"It looks like that one house I always imagined when I read my favorite book. It's breathtaking.", I admit.

"That's what I thought when I first saw it. It's my place where I can totally relax and forget about everything. And the best thing is that I can shut off my phone, because no one doubts that I have wifire down here. It's so peaceful."

I jump out of the car as we finally arrive at the cottage and am truly amazed by its beauty. I can't even describe how magical it looks. But it's perfect!

"Close your mouth", he laughs "The inside is even better!", he exclaims and takes my hand. Max remembers me of my imagination of him as a little boy. It's like he threw all his worries away the moment he entered this place. He smiles more often and his mood changed. And so do I. I'm infected by his happiness. Live in the moment is what I tell myself as I run behind him into the cottage. And he's right, it's even more beautiful and breathtaking from the inside.

He shows me every single corner of this house before I head off and take a long, relaxing shower. I walk down this old wooden steps that creek with each and every move I make. I take in every surrounding, the wooden walls, the family pictures, the country style of this beautiful house. I smile as I sense a familiar smell that leads me into the kitchen, where Max cooks, standing in front of the oven in sweatpants and a shirt. I've never seen him wearing anything else than suits. But it fits him and makes him look younger.

I stop staring at him as he feeds me a strawberry. I giggle. I feel so alive where ever I'm around him. I feel like he enjoys being with me as well. At least I hope he does.

"Don't think so hard, my dear", he says and I sigh. He has this talent of knowing when I think and am about to tear me down. It's kind of scary to be honest. He must observe me a lot. He wouldn't do that if he wasn't interested in me.

"I said stop thinking so hard, beautiful", I hear him say much closer now as I feel his hands on my hips.

"Oh", I let out, surprised and blush.

"It's cute when you blush", he says what makes me blush even harder and I try to hide my face. But he stops me and lifts up my chin, making me look into his eyes.

"I'm really happy that you're here with me." He looks at my shyly. He- shy?! Woah, whole new angle. "You're the first woman that I brought here to be honest"

"Why?", I croak out. I don't fully believe his words.

"Because this house shows my soul and I normally don't trust people. But I do trust you. You're something special, Leslie."

I can't believe him. I can't be the first woman ever that sees this place. That's impossible. Why? I mean, he has nothing to hide and could bring so many girls who are much better..

"Stop thinking!", he growls before I can feel his lips on mine. Gently kissing me. And every thought vanishes. My body is on fire.